LOOK! I made a pun! That will only make sense to people in the USA! Snowbird Games have announced the second beta test for their fantasy-worldy turn-based strategy thingy.
The lovely mans at Snowbird Games had Eador approved on Greenlight in January, and will be releasing it on Steam, GOG and other digital platforms in April. Alec had a look at it in September, and thought it was a “Fantasy non-linear turn-based strategy game” with unparalleled depth and an in-game karma system that sounds pretty interesting. Besides from it being stunningly beautiful, and set upon shards and shards of little floating regions in the sky, it seems that how you play will have a big impact on the ending of the game too. Cara likes games where the story is sewn up in the mechanics: yummy.

So! You want to take part in the beta?

For those who already participated in the first beta send a mail here with the subject “Eador- Beta (current tester)”. Mention your username on the forums and they’ll send you a key.

If you’re a newcomer to the beta send a mail here with the subject “Eador- Beta (new tester)”.

You will then get to try it out with a new interface for two weeks! By far my favourite thing about Snowbird Games is their sly suggestion, via their website, that they’re possibly a bit unorganised, by posting this excellent Python sketch:

Russians are awesome. They also MADE THIS ALMIGHTY VIDEO: BEHOLD THE MIGHTY EADOR

ALL TEXT FROM NOW ON WILL BE IN CAPITALS, DUE TO THE EXTRAORDINARILY LOW VOICE IN THAT VIDEO THAT HAS MADE MY WOMANLY SQUEAK FEEL QUITE INSIGNIFICANT.

I THINK YOU CAN PREORDER THIS GAME, BUT ONLY IN RUSSIA. BUT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT IN RUSSIA GAME PREORDER *YOU*.

As an American, I sadly do not get this exclusive pun. I’m afraid that of the implications of what that means; that I’m either out of touch with some new hip new saying that’s sweeping this nation, or that it is something politically or economically important that I am completely ignorant of.

Either way, thanks for making feel stupid. Oh, and the game. It too looks interesting.

But the combat is almost identical to Kings Bounty unfortunately. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Kings Bounty, but I’ve played enough of it now, thanks very much. I had high hopes for this game, but this killed it for me I’m afraid.

Not identical. Similar yes.
Main difference is that hero and any unit is a single entity. Any unit on battlefield is a single unit – THERE IS NO STACKS.
Unist gain experience new levels give additional stats and new skills. Not mention that units can be decorated by medals whose giving additional bonuses but cost gold or gems in upkeep.

And that’s just the tactics level. This donkey is just completely missing on the map level (completely not like KB at all) and shard level (not even remotely KB related). It’s like comparing Unreal 1 Campaign to Unreal Tournament 99.

I didn’t say everything was identical to KB – just the tactical battles. I was hoping for something closer to the battles in AOW, but everyone seems to go the KB/HOMM combat route in these kind of games (see Fallen Enchantress, Disciples, etc, etc)

This is ridiculous; apart from a hex grid the tactical combat is not similar at all. The stamina and morale system in Eador alone makes a world of difference. I’ve beaten Eador on expert and KB on impossible so I’m intimately familiar with both games.

Healthy, Ha! I believe gatoraid is quite common in gyms actually as an energy drink, at least any I’ve been a member of seem to sell it prominently. We have plenty of crap for sale here, don’t you worry!

(Speaking as a Brit) I think if you’d used “ade” instead of “aid”, I would have got it immediately, rather than thinking “she must be right that it’s US-specific” and then realising when I got to the comments.

Equally, we salute you on your brave first attempt, and enourage you to continue trying to bring the colonies up to the punning standard set by the mother country.

I had never even heard of this series until today. It looks pretty interesting, though. What’s the nearest comparable game– HoMM? Also, I love the grand campaign aspect of these games, but worry that the tactical battles drag the pace down a bit. Are the tactical battles short and sweet, or can they drag on for a bit?

Assuming it’s the same as Genesis but prettier: There are lots of layers to it. It takes bits of HOMM, but it takes bits of every game that looks similar and mashes them together. As a consequence, the pace is glacial as it’s introducing it all to you.

Like HOMM, you have your main stronghold to grow that gives you your units, items, magic and such. There are many buildings for your stronghold and building some will exclude others, which will affect your overall strategy. Available buildings are unlocked throughout the game, and it feels like a looong time before you really get going.

Rather than free movement of a hero around the map, you move your hero(es) from province to any adjacent province more like Total War. Conquering and developing them as you see fit. Every province has its own properties, giving different bonuses, resources and such. And there are always several locations for your hero to explore in each (typically a defeat the guardians battle or merchant). There are lots of factors to province management.

Battles tend to be short, and it’s generally in your interest to keep them that way. But you’ll be fighting many of them. Terrain plays a more important role in the battles than it does in Kings Bounty or HOMM, and exploiting it can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Then there’s diplomacy, random events, shards…

It’s a slow game, but you can develop strategies to try and speed it up. Then it’ll throw a larger map and more mechanics at you. It’s basically just full of stuff. I really like it. I could understand if people hated it.